This Is Not What I Do
by iluvRossR5
Summary: It had to be done. In my mind, at least. These are my thoughts as I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling. It was only fair, after all. I mean what else are you supposed to do when your girlfriend cheats on you? ...I thought about this for a second... Yeah, I did NOT handle that right. This story is based on the song 9 Crimes by Damien Rice. I don't own anything blah blah blah


KIM

Sitting at this table, with his family, I could barely make eye contact. The only thing I could do was hope that the guilt wasn't completely visible on my face. Although, knowing just how fabulous my lying skills are, they could probably read my thoughts. I had been dating Randy Plotski for a little over two months now. Our moms are friends and when his grades started to slip (he prefers skateboarding over studying), I was convinced to tutor him. Based on first impressions only, Randy was kind of a jerk. He was cute, but he was also judgemental. Not brave enough to pull away from the crowd. He only attacked if he had the upper hand, so to speak.

Yet, after a week or so, his true personality finally touched the surface and I realized he wasn't a complete idiot. He's got a decent sense of humor, and if you can get him to focus, Randy is actually pretty smart. He knows when he's being an ass, but most of the time he doesn't care about whoever he's talking to enough to change his attitude. Except for me, he does. Or at least that's what he told me.

_ "Kim, I know I'm a jerk sometimes, but I'm really not like that!"_

_ "I'm sure," _I had said, not really listening.

_ "Look, Kim, I know how to be mean. But when I'm around you, it's like I don't need to be! I can just be myself, and not have to worry about what everyone else thinks."_

This had caught my attention, and I remembered looking up from my book to meet his eyes.

_ "Let me prove it to you..."_

And to be honest, he did. We went on a date, and I actually had fun with him. Three weeks later he asked me to be his girlfriend. I had said yes. Everything went smoothly. I would even go as far as to say that he made me happy. Well, until a week ago...

"Kim, are you ok?" Randy asked, interrupting my thoughts. "Yeah, sorry I was just thinking about that test we have Monday," I lied, putting on a fake smile. I prayed he bought it.

JACK

It had to be done. I mean, she cheated on me, so I had to cheat on her to get her back, right? I don't know, it made sense at the time. Bottom line; I wasn't thinking when I decided that. I mean, normally I'm not the kind of guy that cheats on his girlfriend just because I'm mad. Maybe I am, though... These are my thoughts as I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling. Guilt was literally eating me from the inside out. This is what I get for taking advantage of my best friend. I deserve all the horrible guilt, though. Every little piece. What I did was wrong and I had no right to do it. I had no right to drag Kim into this. It's not fair to her. And to top it off, I ruined her relationship, too. I mean, she has a boyfriend for god's sake! What the hell was I thinking? Except, in the very back of my mind, excuses kept forming. _She cheated on you first! This is actually her fault! _

And as much as I wanted to blame Grace for this, in the end it was my fault. I completely overreacted that day. Now I would do anything to go back and change what happened...

"Hey, Jack," Milton said, walking up with Jerry.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"Just heading to class. I wanted to skip, but Milton completely freaked and he was all like 'Oh my god, Jerry don't you know skipping is bad for your brain! We need to be in class!'" Jerry said in a falsetto voice while quoting Milton.

"Okay first of all, I do NOT talk like that!" Milton immediatley protested. "Second of all, I said skipping is a juvenile activity that only leaves you behind on the lesson that we will probably need to know for the test, so it's pretty much necessary that we are present in class!" Milton rambled. Jerry rolled his eyes.

"Let's go, we wouldn't want to be late. Right, Milton?" I asked.

"Right."

2 WEEKS EARLIER

JERRY

"Look man, all you have to do is wait until he comes around the corner, then pull her in. Don't give her any sort of hint that you're going to or she isn't going to let you. Grace is a good girl. She would never intentionally cheat on her boyfriend. So this means you have to make the move. Be quick and spontanious, and do NOT let her pull away. You want her to be shocked so she won't have time to process what happened. Then, while Jack is standing there watching, wink at her and walk away. Pretend you didn't see him and then make a beeline to your car. Cross your fingers that Jack doesn't go all ninja on you and get the heck out of there. He should be too hurt to react," I whispered.

I was currently sitting in detention with a jock named Derek, who owed me a favor. I slipped him a twenty dollar bill under the desk and he gladly accepted. In return, we did our bro-handshake which involved a fist bump, a few slaps, and a kick here and there. Five minutes later we were finally dismissed to go home. I got on my bike, leaving my homework in my locker, and headed for my house. Let's face it, it's not like I'm going to do it anyways.

I guess I should probably explain. About a month ago, Jack started dating Grace. And you see, I have a problem with this, because Jack knows that I've had a crush on Grace since third grade. He asked her to be his girlfriend anyways. I played it off like everything was cool, but bro, it was so not cool. Now, it's time for my revenge. Besides, how could Jack possibly keep dating Grace when he finds out she's been cheating on him?

Yo, Jack Brewer (and anyone else) might tell you I'm stupid, but bro, I can plot schemes that would blow your mind. I may not be, ummm, "book smart", as Milton puts it, but if there's one thing I know how to do, it's how to prank. Jack, you better watch out, "amigo". Just remember, you asked for it.

1 WEEK LATER

JACK

I walked into school at 7:40, almost running to get to my locker in time. I opened it in a hurry, and snatched up my books and binders as a white piece of paper floated slowly to the floor. I grabbed it and shoved it in my pocket. Then I slammed the door of my locker and headed quickly to class. The bell rang as I opened the door.

"Mr. Brewer, late again. Please take your seat, this is the last warning you will get," said Mrs. Smith.

"Yes, ma'am."

With that, I sat down at my usual desk in the back of the class room. Mrs. Smith began the lesson and I pulled out the note, eager to see what it was. My name was written in soft, swirly handwriting. It was decorated with hearts. _Grace._

Dear Jack,

Meet me outside in the courtyard after school today.

Love,

Grace

So after school, that's exactly what I did. I went to my locker and shoved my homework in my backpack. I couldn't help but smile as I imagined what she had planned. I walked through the hallway in a happy daze, trying to wipe the ridiculous smile off my face. I failed miserably. A few minutes later I pushed open the door to the courtyard, and a warm breeze blew gently through my hair. I walked a little ways up the path, then turned a corner to find my beautiful girlfriend...

Standing with some other dude.

Boy, that wiped the smile off my face.

The guy was Derek McLoughlin, captain of the soccer team. His eyes flashed in my direction for a fraction of a second, and then he did something that made me want to break his face. He leaned in quickly and kissed Grace, MY girlfriend, right on the lips. I stood there in a mix of disbelief and rage. Then Derek winked at Grace, turned around, and walked away. My feet stayed glued to the spot.

Grace stood in the same position, back towards me, for a good two minutes. Her fingers touched her lips, as if she was in some sort of fairy tale. Apparently she hadn't noticed that her so-callled "Prince Charming" already walked away. Finally, I took a step towards her. Then another.

"G-Grace?" I managed to whisper. She jumped and turned around. Her eyes went wide as she realized what I just saw.

"JACK! I- I didn't-"

"Thanks for the note," I said, cutting her off. With that I walked away.

"What note?"

That night I walked into the dojo ready to hit something, hard. I hadn't said a word to anyone about what happened after school, and I really wasn't planning to any time soon. My mom knew something was wrong. I'm sure the gang did too. I didn't say a word. Practice went well, to say the least. I took down three dummies and won when I sparred with Rudy. He asked what had gotten into me, but I didn't respond. Afterwords, I left the dojo before anyone could question me. I wasn't in the mood to talk.

I got home and took a hot shower. I stayed in there way longer than I should've. Unfortunately, the water didn't wash away the pain. After twenty minutes I gave up and got out. My mom knocked on my door and asked if I wanted any dinner. She looked worried. I told her I wasn't hungry though, and that I was fine. I don't like when my mom worries. The corners of her lips always turn down and her eyes shine with sympathy, even if she doesn't know the reason. This is one, out of many, reasons that I have the best mom in the world. I tried to pretend everything was ok, if not for me then for her.

I skipped my homework, deciding that I should really just go to bed at this point. I layed under the blankets, and rested my head on my pillow. Except, every time I closed my eyes, my brain would replay the scene with Grace and Derek in my head. So I did the only thing I could think of. I called Kim.

"Hello?"

"Hey Kim."

"Jack?"

"Yeah."

"It's like 11 o'clock at night!"

"I know."

"Ok, well is everything alright?"

"No."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't know."

"Umm, ok. Well, how about this. You can tell me whatever you want and I promise I won't judge. I won't even say anything. I can just listen, or whatever you want me to do."

"Kim?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you come over?"

"Jack it's a school night!"

"I know."

"... I'll be right over."

Fifteen minutes later I heard a thump as a rock hit my window. Thankfully, Kim lived pretty close. I opened my window as quietly as I could and dropped down a rope ladder we used to sneak in and out of our houses. She climbed up and I helped her into my room. Then I closed the window as she sat down on my bed. I sat next to her. "So are you going to tell me what's wrong?" I shook my head. I was too embarrassed to even mention what happened. I sighed and put my head in my hands.

"Jack, I don't know what happened but it'll be okay." I looked up at her. She could see that I was about to start crying. The next thing I knew, her arms were around my neck as she pulled me in for a hug. I hugged her back and we both stayed there for a while. I didn't feel like moving. Finally, she pulled away just enough so that she was looking me in the eyes. This was when I started to cry. I couldn't hold it back any longer. Kim sat with me and wiped away the tear that rolled down my cheek. She whispered that everything would be okay, but I didn't see how. I just felt so stupid. I actually believed that Grace liked me.

With bitterness I remebered the way that Derek had just swooped down and kissed Grace. _My_ Grace. It only happened for a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. Then I remembered the smirk that grew across his face as he winked at her and left. Suddenly I needed to do something. Anything. I just had to do something to keep me from completely falling apart over some stupid girl who lied to me. Naturally, the first thing that popped into my head was something completely disasterous. It was mean. It was sleazy. It was disgusting. But, it was also perfect.

As Kim looked into my eyes I slowly leaned closer. My eyes looked to her soft pink lips. They looked so innocent... I closed my eyes and my mind went completely blank. In that moment, everything was absolutley perfect.

Then she pulled away. I sat on my bed and watched her as her eyes grew wide in realization. She stood up, opened the window, and left without giving me another glance.


End file.
